


Morning Constitutionals

by SirLadySketch



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, Haven, Pre-Relationship, flirtations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-15
Updated: 2015-04-15
Packaged: 2018-03-23 01:52:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3750484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SirLadySketch/pseuds/SirLadySketch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a restless night, Lavellan decides a breath of fresh air will help clear her head. She doesn't expect company. Set after “Champions of the Just” but before “In Your Heart Shall Burn.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Morning Constitutionals

Red streaks of dawn were just beginning to challenge the green scars of the Rift. The resulting light was a muddled yellow glow over the sleeping Haven, surprisingly bright for the early hour. Remli gently placed the last bundle of herbs outside of the alchemist’s hut, then paused for a long, measured breath. The crisp morning air tasted of tangy crushed flowers, mixed with the sweet smell of early morning campfires. Luck had allowed her to slip out before the others in the Keep awakened. With the last of the herbs delivered, she had a half a mind to slip away from the village for a bit, just to steal some time alone.

Her counselors meant well, and she’d grown immensely fond of them in the weeks they’d been working together. They were a decent lot (for shems), and she valued their insight into the tangled mess that was human politics. But there was a reason her elder had made her a hunter for the clan, and sent her off on extended trips; as her daggers dulled with disuse, her words tended to cut deeper. If she had to spend another day listening to another lecture about the Maker, Andraste, or the Chant of Light and her own role within that mythos, she would—

“Lavellan! A moment, if you have it?”

She jumped, the voice dissipating all visions of stealing an afternoon lounge in the sun. Either she’d been more engrossed in her daydreams than she’d realized, or the mage had a tread so light that even her hunter’s ear had not picked it up. Given what little she knew of him, she was inclined to believe the latter. Interesting.

Despite the early hour, Solas was neatly dressed, looking refreshed and slightly pink-faced in the chilly morning air. She noted the easy grace with which he moved as he closed the door to his cabin, and the lilting cadence of his greeting sounded almost chipper.

Her own throbbing head protested the injustice of it all. There he stood, proper as could be, no evidence of their late night arrival after a long week traipsing around the Hinterlands. She caught a glimpse of the small cot through the open window—the bed was made and tidy, looking as though it hadn’t been used in weeks. Did the man ever sleep?

“Do you ever sleep?” she asked. His eyebrows rose, briefly, and she flushed, hurrying to say something to soften the unintentional bite of her words, “I’m sorry, that came out poorly. I’m just surprised that anyone else is up and about, especially after the long night we had.”

There was a moment’s awkward silence, and then Solas chuckled, his serene face actually breaking into a momentary smile. The cold winter air stung her burning cheeks as she stammered “I mean—!”

Solas took pity on her, holding up a hand to prevent her from saying anything more damning, ““I know what you meant, Lavellan. Think nothing of it,” he murmured, then motioned her to follow as he walked down the snowy steps. “Having spent so much time in the Fade during my studies, I find that I do not require much sleep. But what rouses you so early from bed?”

Remli sighed and massaged her temples, still silently praying for a rift to swallow her on the spot. As she thought about the dreams that had come to her in the night, and how she has awoken with pounding heart and flushed cheeks, she decided the mage did not need to know the whole truth.

“I slept poorly and thought to clear my head with a morning walk, perhaps steal a moment to watch the sun rise.” She laughed, took her hands away and shrugged. “It seems I still have some waking up to do.”

Solas said nothing, but he watched her closely, as though waiting patiently for her to admit some secret. She’d heard of mages who could read minds. Was that what he was trying to do? Probably best to confess a smaller guilt, then. She gave him a sheepish grin.

“Alright, and I was thinking of being terribly irresponsible and finding a sunny place to hide and nap for a bit before the others dragged me off for more lectures on the Maker,” she admitted, which drew another quiet laugh from the mage. It was a pleasant sound, and she welcomed it gladly. “Why, Solas? Was there something you needed?”

“I would not keep you from your walk,“ he said, and she could hear the smile as he spoke, “Nor would I wish to keep you from finding a bit of peace. But I would walk with you so that we might speak as we go. A morning constitutional is an excellent way to start the day.”

“I would like that,” she said, pleased to see this earned another swift smile. Every crack in that calm, stoic demeanor gave her a thrill through her senses. She’d never met someone so reserved and yet at the same time so passionate. She loved to hear him speak, to hear the delight in his voice as he spoke of the fade and his journeys. Determining what drove that passion was a challenge and a pleasure she enjoyed exploring at every opportunity.

Not that she would ever admit that out loud to anyone. Not that she would admit to praying nightly to whatever gods who might be listening to keep him from wandering into her dreams by mistake. She flushed as memories of the dream she’d awoken from filtered back into her thoughts. Warm hands on skin chilled as it was exposed to the air—Yes. A cold, bracing walk would be a very good idea indeed.

“I wanted to inquire about your health,” Solas said as they passed through the heavy wooden gates of the main fortifications. She matched his stride and tried to focus on what he was saying instead of remembering fragmented sweet nothings spoken in dreams. “We have accomplished much these past weeks,” he continued, blithely ignorant of Remli’s distracted thoughts. “I worried that the strain of it might be causing you some harm. Does it still pain you?”

She glanced down at her palm, dark and dormant for the time being. She clenched it into a fist, then flexed her fingers far apart, stretching her arm before them. She shook her head, staring at it.

“No. It…tingles from time to time, like a limb waking up after an awkward sleep. But the burn I felt when first I woke—that’s subsided. Closing the first Rift seems to have helped.” She lowered her arm, and shrugged, “It pulses when the smaller rifts are nearby, and sometimes I can feel the charge of your spells before you unleash them. But those twinges are fainter, less imposing. I can almost forget it’s there. Perhaps when we've managed to seal the Breach entirely, it will cease to react entirely.”

“I am glad to hear it. I had feared that it still disturbed your rest.”

She flushed again, looking resolutely ahead at a particularly pretty mountain peak in the distance.

“Ah, no,” she managed. “The mark does not keep me awake.”

“Hmm,” he responded, a non-committal noise that allowed the conversation to drift off as they each followed their own thoughts.

They walked in companionable silence, the world growing brighter as the sun rose above the snowy peaks of the Frostbacks. Her headache subsided, and she found herself smiling, despite the chilly bite in the air. She hadn’t slept well, to be sure, and it wasn’t just salacious dreams about people who were practically strangers that had prompted her to pacing the halls well before dawn.

Being surrounded by stone was stifling. She could feel the weight of the building pressing down on her as she slept, the crush of people packed into their ever-tighter quarters. None had dared to share a bed with the esteemed Herald of Andraste, so she was granted some small space to call her own. But the bedroom had no windows, the stone was several feet thick, and when the door closed, a muffled silence fell over the room.

She could feel the scream caught in her throat, waiting to bubble out the moment she let down her guard.

But here, here in the open air, she could breathe. Here, she was nothing, no Herald, no hunter. Here she was unbound, unburdened, unremarkable. The world around her sang with the Life, and her own heart yearned to join that chorus.

“You are happier out here, in the wilds,” Solas stated, and she snapped back into focus, that ethereal song lost. She turned back to him, only to find his grey eyes intent upon her face. For a fleeting moment, she felt like a hart that knows it’s been sighted by an archer. His tone was gentle, though, and she nodded, shying away from his gaze by staring out across the lake once more.

“I don’t know how the city elves can stand it. Visiting Orlais was awful, it felt so fashioned, so fake. Everything so pristine and perfect it seemed too good to be true.” She wrinkled her nose at the memory of some of the shops Vivienne had dragged them into, the bitter scents of mixed perfumes and the tang of coined money in those cramped and poorly lit rooms.

“The Hinterlands might be filled with mud and bugs and questionable footpaths, but it is a beautiful place, full of Life and honesty,” she said.

“Even though it has wolves and other such creatures lurking in the shadows?” pressed Solas, and she turned back to look at him once again, meeting his gaze once more.

“Especially with the wolves. At least with wolves, when they bite you, it’s nothing personal.”

Solas coughed, and she couldn’t quite tell if it was a laugh or if he found her lack of civility alarming. It was of no matter. The mask was in place again, that vaguely disinterest distance was back. She sighed. Once again, she’d said something stupid, or something he must have disagreed with, quashing any chance for further conversation.

She forced herself to smile, made a show of looking up at the sun, and turned to give a slight bow to the mage.

“Well, if I’m going to find a place to hide before Cullen sends out the recruits to find me, I need to get going.” She grinned up at him through lowered lashes. “Say you haven’t seen me?”

“You have my word, they will not find you before you wish to be found,” he replied, bowing in return. Impulsively, she grabbed his arm in thanks, squeezed it briskly, then darted off before either of them could analyze what that brief touch meant.

Remli took off for the trees across the frozen lake, and Solas watched her go until she was hidden from view. He then continued on his morning stroll, deciding to take the long way back to his cabin. After all, he had much to think on, and a morning constitutional did wonders to clear one’s thoughts.


End file.
